Neon and Modern on Shelter Island

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I spent a few days last week photographing a house on Shelter Island. The project, a Greek Revival Farmhouse, will appear in an upcoming issue of the magazine. While I waited for the light to drop (High summer sun can make for some bad looking, high contrast exterior photos) I drove around the island, which is situated between the North and South fork of Long Island, NY. The island has a rich history and is home to some really terrific residential architecture. I was particularly drawn to all the old Victorian farmhouses around Shelter Island Heights. Those houses are beautiful.

During my drive a flash of neon Yellow, Green and Orange streamed by my car’s passenger window. I spun around to get a better look at the home, a project I later found out was designed by Peter Stamberg and Paul Aferiat. It’s a remarkably bold project.

After doing some poking around I discovered the home’s form was inspired by Ludwig Mies ven der Rohe and his Barcelona Pavilion project. Another prominent shelter magazine has described it this way. “The translucency and unit dimensions of Maison de Verre, the low ceiling heights of Fallingwater, the opaque street elevation of Richard Meier’s Hoffman House.”

Whatever. I respect all that, but when I look at a house I need to feel an emotional connection to it in order to really like it. I didn’t feel that when I looked at this project from across the road and I don’t feel that looking at photos of it now. However, I feel myself being really inspired by the architects who designed the house. It’s their home and they’ve been quoted as saying, “Everything of us is in this house.”

That’s an idea I can really get behind, even though I can’t picture myself living in the results.